Waiting

The Incoming has arrived, and he has had a number of soirées to attempt to appeal to the Better Angels of the Republicans, with the upshot that not one of them voted for the Economic Recovery package in the House of Representatives the other day. Not one.

Clearly all the fine verbiage and social contact isn't working with this rump assembly of... fine American patriots... ha! Their unanimous refusal to put the People and the Country before their Party in this instance, despite being given several concessions on tax breaks for the rich and the well-connected and on matters they consider "frivolous" like the National Mall and contraception funding, shows that the split between them and the rest of the country may not be bridgeable.

President Lincoln faced something worse, far worse, in that some of the states had already seceeded when he took the oath of office. But the unanimity of today's rejectionists, the refusniks, is a sign of where we are headed.

It seems to me that Obama has been bending over backwards and jumping through all kinds of hoops to bring these miscreants in out of the cold, provide them with succor, with hope, and with courage to do the right thing. They reject all of it, with a snot-nosed brat's contempt and a gleeful nyah, nyah to boot.

After all, their Leader, Rush Limbaugh, has declared that he hopes Obama will fail, and he will do what he has to to ensure that happens.

Bless his cystic ass.

To the extent he thinks he can, the Incoming is ruling by decree, Imperial Ukase as it were, what we call EO's, while Congress sorts itself out. Some serious sortage has to go on, for in addition to the fact that not one House Republican voted for the economic package, eleven House Democrats voted against it. Sigh.

Here we go again, with Democrats in Congress lining up to be butt-boys for the Rs. It just reeks. And it has been going on for years, with ineffective Democratic "leaders" in the House and Senate unable -- unwilling? -- to whip their caucuses into shape.

So where is this all leading? What are we waiting for?

I've been very impressed with Obama's political acumen. He knows how to move people sufficiently to move them to action, and he knows very well how to give them enough rope to hang themselves. He did it over and over again during his two year campaign for the Presidency, to rather startling effect, and it looks like he is doing it as President as well. It's a risky business, but from appearances, he is doing everything to allow and require Republicans in the Congress to do themselves in, by being as pleasant and gentle and social and accommodating as he can, and letting them rail and rant and fuss and refuse all they want. The People see this and turn their backs on them. Support for Obama grows. It's now in the 70's and moving up.

Republicans end up self-pwning -- again.

That's the politics of this current phase, but we're waiting for the moment when they have nothing left. When not even as a rump assembly can they function, and no one pays them any attention at all. Not even with their Democratic followers and toadies.

And then?

Who can say.